


Miraculous: Adventures of Princess Bug and Kuro Chat

by leonardo1123581321



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Character Death, F/M, Kuro Chat, Learning teamwork, Learning to become friends, Possible Romance?, Princess Bug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23251267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leonardo1123581321/pseuds/leonardo1123581321
Summary: Hawkmoth was tired of the games. Tired of the schemes. He needed Ladybug and ChatNoir’s Miraculouses. No matter what. He found his next Akuma and gave one order - Kill Ladybug and Chat Noir. They followed through dutifully. For the first time, Ladybug and Chat Noir were on the run with no way out. Then Ladybug fell first - the hero of Paris defeated. She detransformed into an adult woman. Stunned, Chat Noir ran to her side before turning on the Akuma and falling as well. Then he detransformed...into his son. Horrified, Hawkmoth didn’t notice Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculouses fly away of their own volition.As Manon Chamack and Noel Lahiffe deal with the news, they are both startled to find new little guests.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks to the members of the Miraculous Fanfiction Discord, for helping me to edit this fic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with the help of and in honor of the people of the [MLB Fanworks Discord](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks)

Ladybug never intended for things to get this far. She and Chat were always able to handle an akuma. Even when they had no chance, some quick thinking, teamwork, and a little luck was all they needed to pull victory from certain defeat. So how did this happen?

How did she end up pinned under an overturned car, suffocating under the weight of it. She could hear a cry and the voice of someone. It was Alya. Oh, that's right. She'd pushed Alya out of harm's way - to save her best friend. Alya always had to come see the battle for herself whenever an akuma attacked. It was her 'duty as manager of the Ladyblog and patron to super hero fans everywhere'. The thought made her smile, until the pain coursed through her body. It hurt to smile. Why did it hurt to smile?

Oh.

Right. She was under a car.

"Time to die, Ladybug."

She looked up and could see the akuma standing over her. Nino. Alya's fiancée. He had a bad day. She understood that. But it wasn't the bad day that led to this. The akumatization...Hawkmoth's one command - kill Ladybug and Chat Noir. Her friend was still in there somewhere. He had to be, "Nino...please. You don't want to do this. You can fight it. I believe in you."

He hesitated. It seemed he was in some control. At least until Hawkmoth's symbol appeared over his face. Hawkmoth really was pulling all the stops on this. She closed her eyes - this was it. Hawkmoth couldn't get the Miraculous. No matter what, "Spots off."

She detransformed and she saw her kwami appear in front of her, her voice cracking, "Marinette!"

"Take the Miraculous," Marinette mumbled, "While there's time."

The kwami pulled the earrings off her and flew away just as Nino finally gave in to Hawkmoth's demands. The last thing she saw was his fist.

* * *

"LADYBUG!" Chat Noir cried, dragging himself along the ground towards her. Why...why did this happen? He was supposed to be stronger than this! Better than this! He'd failed her...and his best friend. No...it wasn't his fault. Nino didn't know. Nino was under Hawkmoth's control. It was Hawkmoth's fault. If he ever got his hands on him...he would...

His mind failed him...he was tired now, barely able to move. To function. His vision was growing darker. He could vaguely make out Nino coming his way, but he didn't know what he was saying. It was all becoming so quiet. He was certain of one thing...Hawkmoth couldn't get his Miraculous, "Claws in."

"KID!" Plagg's voice shouted, the normally calm and carefree kwami barely able to contain his worry. Adrien removed his ring, "Run."

The last thing he saw was Nino's feet stopping just short of him. He...was so tired...he'd just close his eyes for a moment. Just a moment...

* * *

Hawkmoth should've felt victory. He should've felt triumphant.

But all he felt was despair when he saw through his akuma's vision - Adrien Agreste. His adult son lying on the ground just in front of him...Chat Noir was his son. His son was Chat Noir. No, it couldn't be possible. He would've known. And he'd seen his son and Chat Noir in the same place at the same time.

No time for that. For this. If he...the Miraculous! He could use his wish to...no...no, where was the ring? Ladybug! He willed the akuma to hurry back to Ladybug to find some nameless woman he'd never met before. At least he was sure he'd never met her before, despite the nagging feeling that he recognized her face in the back of his mind. That didn't matter now though, he needed...the earrings were gone! No. This wasn't right. This wasn't how it was supposed to go! Without the miraculous he couldn't… No, save Adrien. That was the priority now.

He willed his akuma to scoop up Adrien and bring him to the nearest hospital. Forget the girl...she wasn't his concern. The akuma raced through Paris as fast as he could, holding Adrien Agreste in his arms and stopping just short of the hospital. The medical staff froze at the sight of him - afraid. They should be. He made his akuma hold up his son and he cried out, "Save him!"

One of the nurses steadily approached with a gurney for the akuma to rest Adrien on. Just as they were about to wheel him in, another nurse took his wrist and said, "Wait...no pulse...he's gone."

No.

"Let me look," a doctor came over with a stethoscope to check, "No rhythm...skin's turning pale...he's dead. Not long, but too far for us to do anything."

"NO!" Hawkmoth roared out. It was over. It was all over. His mission to save his wife...his son...

He never wanted it to go this far. He never wanted this. Not his son. How much more would he have to lose? How much more could the universe take? He collapsed to the floor, punching the floor with all the grief and anger he could muster. Why him?

No...he wouldn't let it end like this...he couldn't...he would...he would…

He didn't know what he would do. He would surrender...for now...deevilize the akuma…

* * *

Nino Lahiffe wasn't exactly sure what he was doing at the hospital - he didn't even know how he got here. He was coming out of a job interview a second ago. In fact, he was so confused that he barely registered that he was being tackled to the ground by a police officer and pinned to the ground, "Dude! What are you-"

"Stay on the ground and be quiet, son. It's for your own good," the officer said. What did that even mean? His own good? This officer must've been crazy, "Get off!"

"I said stay quiet! I'm trying to help but you need to keep your mouth shut!" the officer said as he fastened his hands in handcuffs. Some help he was being. He struggled against the cuffs, trying to shake the officer off when he noticed all the people staring - all the doctors, and nurses and other medical staff. Then he saw the gurney - and the person on it, "Adrien?"

"Stay quiet!" the officer said as he felt a bag slide over his head.


	2. Manon and Noel

_**Ladybug and Chat Noir Killed - Akuma in Custody** _

That was the headline that stopped all of Paris. That was the headline that filled an entire city with grief and fear. For a time, it seemed like the worst was yet to come. That Hawkmoth would take advantage of the situation and akumatize everyone - that the city would be destroyed. But nothing happened - no Akuma. No chaos. Nothing.

As if the great villain was quietly relishing his own victory.

But for Paris - it was chaos. It was only a matter of time before people figured out who they were.

Ladybug, lady luck and heroine of Paris, was Marinette Dupain-Cheng - Twenty-two year old university student with a passion for fashion and design.

Chat Noir, the black cat and hero of Paris, was Adrien Agreste - Twenty two year old fashion model.

And of course, news broke that they had been dating - because of course the heroes of the city of love would be in love. How much more fitting could it be? It just made the tragedy all the sadder to know the two heroes of Paris, who fought so tirelessly to bring a happy ending, could be denied one for themselves.

Funeral plans were prepared to lay them to rest. Together. They deserved that much. Many assumed it would be a private affair. Adrien was the son of the famous recluse Gabriel Agreste. The guy wouldn't even show up to his fashion launches. However, the man gave no protestations and even paid the expenses out of his own pocket - a public funeral would be held so that the whole city could put them to rest. And for one day, it was like the whole city came together to mourn them.

Manon had to go. Marinette had been her babysitter so many times when she was younger. Granted she didn't do much babysitting - always running off to some other commitment she'd forgotten about. Manon always assumed it was grown up stuff - never once assuming it was because she was Ladybug. It made sense in hindsight

But it was more than that. She brought the dolls Marinette had made of the heroes when she was younger. The same dolls she would always try to steal so she could play with them until her mother caught her with them. It was no wonder Marinette never got upset over it. Ladybug was just too kind to get upset.

Too much of a hero.

At the funeral, both Marinette's parents were there. There was another woman who was there with the couple. She didn't look anything like Adrien. Maybe she was Marinette's aunt or something? That's what Manon thought until the woman spoke - she had been Adrien's caregiver. At first she said little, speaking of Adrien like he was just an acquaintance. It made Manon sad to think that this was the eulogy he would get, some informal list of his life like it was a checklist.

Then she paused, faltering for a moment before mumbling to herself. The woman then started talking about Adrien like he was her own son. And her tone shifted from one of cold indifference to one of sadness. His father may not have bothered to show up but she… the way she talked, she may as well have been his mom.

When she finished, Marinette's parents took their turn to speak. Both of them went up together. Her dad was a wreck, barely able to contain himself from crying. Her mother was doing a better job of holding together, but her words betrayed the front she was putting up. She paused a lot to swallow, to sob, to calm down.

She was too far away to actually hear any of it. But the sadness of her parents was felt through the whole of Paris. Then the time came to lower them into the ground; the two heroes of Paris in their coffins, lowered side by side into the ground forever while a priest read them the last rites. The crowd lingered a little while longer afterwards, each person taking a turn to come forward and pay their respects to both the deceased and their families. Manon's eyes kept going back to the tombstones that marked their graves, lingering on the words etched on their shared stone.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste

The Heroes of Paris

Together Until The End

They really had been. And now they would be together forever. As it should have been.

* * *

Noel slammed his fist on the counter, "Why can't I see my brother? Stop treating me like a kid!"

The officer on the side groaned, "How do I even know you're his brother? Kids get fake IDs all the time."

"Just let me see Nino! He didn't do anything wrong!" Noel complained, "He was under the control of the akuma and-"

The officer finally stood up and Noel felt his bravery suddenly fail him. The officer made his way around to the other side of the counter and folded his arms, "He's not locked up because we're punishing him. He's locked up because right now, most of Paris blames him for their deaths. If we let him out, it'll be straight into a mob."

"But it was Hawkmoth's fault!" Noel protested.

The officer gestured outside to the angry crowd gathered outside and demanding justice in their own sick way, "Tell them that. "

Noel finally understood the point and turned to leave, "I'll be back. And next time, you'll let me see my brother!"

"Get out of here kid," the officer said, shoo-ing him outside. Noel grunted his disapproval and walked out into the assembled crowd held back by the police line. It was completely unimaginable to him that his brother could be treated as a pariah for something that wasn't his fault. He just hoped Nino was okay, wherever he was.

* * *

Gabriel sat in his office, staring out the window to the city. It was sunny out. Of course it was. It was sunny the day his Emilie was…

It was all such a sick joke to him. Like the universe was laughing at him for trying to save her. He heard the door open behind him and he knew Nathalie had returned from the funeral. She closed the door behind him and quietly said, "I'm back sir. The funeral...a lot of people express their condolences. All of Paris was there."

He wanted to go. He didn't deserve to go. It was his fault, after all. He was the one who killed…there was no time for that. He pressed his hands together and remarked, "We're going to bring him back, Nathalie. Bring them back."

"Sir," she began, "Is this...the best decision? We...you've already lost so much in pursuit of the miraculouses. Don't you think it's time to...look to other things?"

"Nothing was or is more important to me than bringing them back Nathalie," Gabriel answered bitterly, "What happened to Adrien...was my fault. But if I can get them, I can set things right. I can save them both. I was so close. I will see them again."

She was silent. It was uncharacteristic of her to be that way. Gabriel turned to see her hanging her head quietly, "Sir...I'm tendering my resignation."

As she said that, she removed the peacock miraculous from inside her jacket. Gabriel stood up, his brow furrowing at the betrayal, "How dare you, Nathalie."

She didn't falter, setting the miraculous on his desk, "Sir...I've supported you through so much over the years. But this...Adrien...this was too far. I can't do this anymore. Not if this is what you're prepared to do."

Now he understood, "This isn't your fault, Nathalie."

"I know. It's yours," she replied. Those words would've stung if it weren't for the intense grief he was already feeling. Nathalie turned, "I...I want you to know that I loved you, Gabriel. All this time. But I can't love someone who was willing to kill someone else...especially not their own son. I'm done. I'm leaving."

She paused for a moment and he could hear her trying to calm her breathing. He could see she was shaking too but it didn't stop her, "I won't tell anyone you're Hawkmoth. For your sake...but please, give this up. Goodbye Gabriel."

Then she left, closing the door behind her. He closed his eyes. It seemed he was truly alone now. He sank back into his chair… he would need to be careful going forward. His goal, his mission that had been within reach, now seemed so far away.

* * *

Manon got home to find her mom was still out. She'd been very busy with the news ever since Ladybug and Chat Noir fell. It seemed now was no different, especially since she was covering the funeral. She saw dinner waiting for her on the table with cling film wrapped over it, ratatouille.

After helping herself to an okay dinner, she went back into her room and logged into her computer. The internet was full of people talking about the funeral: goodbyes, thanks to the heroes, sharing stories of times they'd personally been saved, saying they would miss them. It wasn't long before she turned her computer off again. This was too depressing. And the last thing she needed was to be reminded of the funeral.

At least until she heard a rattling from her dresser. She turned around to see her jewelry box rattling. Confused and alarmed, Manon rushed over to investigate, grabbing a hold of her book to swat at whatever had made a home in there. Slowly, she propped the lid open and saw…

...a small red ladybug with an abnormally large head cradling two earrings. Manon stared at the bug and the bug stared back before both of them started screaming. The bug flew out of the jewelry box as Manon swung her book around, "ACK! BUG! DIE! GET OUT!"

"I AM NOT A BUG! STOP SWINGING THINGS AT ME!"

The panic from seeing an insect was amplified by hearing it talk, "IT TALKS!"

"STOP IT!" It flew right in front of her eyes and Manon finally got a good look at it. It was kind of cute now that she could see it. Of course, that wasn't going to stop Manon from taking a swing at it. A swing that did nothing as the book passed through the critter.

"Are you done?" the critter asked.

Manon took a moment to calm down and nod, "I...yeah…"

"Thank you. Do you have any cookies? I'm hungry," the creature asked. Manon shrugged, "Maybe? I can...wait...hang on, more important stuff right now. What are you?"

"Hungry," the ladybug answered. Manon sighed, "Fine, who are you?"

"I'm Tikki, Manon," the creature said. It knew her name. How did it know her name? She opened her mouth to ask but Tikki cut her off, "I've been living in your jewelry box for a week, I think. And I'm really hungry. Can we please get something to eat?"

"I...sure," Manon said as she went out to the kitchen and went through the pantry, "There's some sugar cookies. Are those okay?"

"Yes," the creature said, suddenly flying straight for the box and disappearing. The box rattled for a second before the insect flew back out, "That was good. Yummy."

"Huh," Manon examined the now empty box before tossing it into the recycling, "Um...Tikki...what are you?"

Tikki burped and covered her mouth in embarrassment. Whatever she was, she had a big appetite. The bug replied, "I am a kwami - a little god. The kwami of creation, in fact."

"Kwami? Of creation?" Manon repeated, at a complete loss for what she was talking about. Tikki nodded, "That's right. I was also Ladybug's kwami. I'm the one who turned her into a superhero!"

A superhero. Manon had always liked the idea of being a superhero. Even when she was a little girl being babysat by Marinette. Marinette…

Her heart sank just thinking about what happened to the young woman. She didn't deserve a fate like that, to die so pointlessly. Manon looked up, "If you're Ladybug's kwami, what were you doing in my jewelry box?"

"I was hiding the miraculous," Tikki replied, producing the earrings she was cuddling. They seemed so normal that she could've easily grabbed them by mistake. Tikki added, "These miraculous are what Hawkmoth has been after all these years. It's what lets a person transform into a superhero and gives them super strength, speed, and reflexes! After...during the last fight, Ladybug-"

"Marinette," Manon stated. Everyone knew she was Ladybug. There was no point trying to keep it secret any more.

Tikki paused for a moment, "-Marinette knew that was the end. She took off the earrings and...asked me to hide them. I ran...I flew away as far as I could...I only stopped when I flew in an open window and...here we are."

Manon did a double take on the earrings - this is what Hawkmoth was ready to kill for. She almost wanted to throw them away. But this is what Marinette gave her life to protect. And now it was in her room - she couldn't let Hawkmoth get them. She swiped them out of Tikki's little hands, "I'll protect them!"

"Manon, wait!" Tikki stopped her by snatching the earrings back, "This isn't your responsibility. You can't just take the miraculous! That's what Hawkmoth did and look what happened."

"So you're saying if I just take this, I become a bad guy? That sounds dumb," Manon replied matter of factly. Tikki frowned, "That's not what I meant."

Manon wasn't convinced of that and asked, "Okay, then what did you mean?"

Tikki's eyes darted back and forth before she answered, "I need to return to the box. The other kwamis and the miraculouses aren't safe and I-"

"Other kwamis?" Manon gasped out - mind racing. Tikki said she was the source of Marinette's powers as Ladybug. She supposed that made sense as well for Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, Carapace, and all the other heroes. Which begged another question: where were they?

Tikki paused, "Yes. Marinette was the one who safe guarded the other miraculouses when they weren't in use. Without her, they could be in serious danger!"

"Well then I'm coming too!" Manon cried out, "I can't just sit back and do nothing!"

Tikki cracked a small smile, "You sound just like Marinette."

* * *

Gabriel scrolled through the Internet on his computer, looking up everything he could about Marinette Dupain-Cheng. He felt some pang of regret for not recognizing her despite his son's relationship with her. He would've felt shame if he actually cared about the girl, but she was just an unfortunate casualty of his true mission.

Adrien would forgive him once he brought them back. He would understand.

After some time searching he found her home address. More accurately, the address of her parents' bakery. If she was the Guardian, that was where the Miracle Box would be. That must be where the miraculouses disappeared to. Further searching of the internet revealed to him his last akuma had a fiancee. Alya Césaire, an aspiring journalist and operator of the Ladyblog which was the main source for all things Ladybug and Chat Noir. And the only post on the blog in the last few days had been a plea to forgive her fiance for his actions; surely the stress of the situation and backlash from the readers who were less forgiving was eating at her. All perfect for an akuma. He moved from his computer to his secret room, transforming into Hawkmoth and sending for his akuma.

* * *

Noel returned home to find his parents still at home. Neither of them had really left the apartment since they found out about what happened and Nino was named as the akuma who killed Ladybug and Chat Noir. But he wasn't afraid to go out; which meant between school and his club activities he'd been doing all the groceries. He didn't get why though. It wasn't Nino's fault. He was akumatized at the time. He had no control over what happened.

Why couldn't anyone see that?

His parents saw him and cracked small smiles, "Welcome back."

"I'm going to my room," he said, still annoyed that they didn't even come with him to get Nino released from the police. Didn't they care? Their son, his older brother, was locked up for something he didn't do!

He slammed the door behind him and threw his coat off, punching the wall in anger. He had to make them see! To make them understand.

"Do you mind keeping it down? I'm hungry and I'm trying to sleep over here!" a small voice cried from his dresser. That caught him off guard. Who was talking? Had his room been bugged when he wasn't looking? It better not have been. Otherwise he'd personally kick the ass who ever thought that was a good idea. He made his way over to the dresser and gave it a good kick, "WHO'S THERE!?"

"OW!"

A small flying black rat flew out of the bottom drawer where he kept his socks and complained, "Do you mind? I don't come to your home and start kicking things!"

"No, you're just hiding in my sock drawer," Noel fired back. The rat smirked, "Ooh, attitude. I like you."

Noel raised an eyebrow and tried to grab the black thing out of the air, "Stop! Quit moving! What even are you?"

"Name's Plagg. I'm a kwami, little god of destruction. I'm also hungry. Do you have any cheese?"

"Cheese? I'm not feeding some free loading rat!" Noel protested. The rat groaned, "I'm not a rat, I'm a kwami! I smell cheese and Imma eat it!"

He watched the creature fly his way towards the door and pass through it. A solid object - that he just phased through like a ghost. His parents were going to freak out. He threw the door open to see them with their eyes still glued on the TV. They hadn't even noticed the fact that the door was wide open and that food was flying out of it. He hurried to the kitchen to salvage as much of the food as he could. Food that the creature happily named as he threw it out, "Ham. Chicken. Broccoli. Carrots. Butter. Milk. Where's the cheese!"

Noel felt like an idiot, standing there balancing as much of the food as he could before shouting, "STOP IT!"

"Noel?"

That caught his parents attention, and they were looking at him like he was crazy. He must've looked it too, standing in the kitchen with all this food in his arms. He quickly threw it back into the refrigerator and snatched the black rat thing while its back was to him, "Nothing."

He made sure to hold it tight so that it couldn't get loose as he walked back into his bedroom and slammed the door. Then he realized he didn't even want it in his room and went to the window, "Look, flying rat thing. I don't know what you want but I want you out of my room! NOW!"

He opened the window and threw as hard as he could, only to see nothing go flying.

"Nice try kid, but I'm not that easy to get rid of," the rat said from behind him. Noel raised an eye, "What do you want?"

"To help you help me!" the creature said excitedly, floating around Noel happily. Noel crossed his arms, "I don't need help."

"Uh huh, sure," the creature teased, "So how's your brother doing?"

"How do you know my brother?" Noel grumbled.

"Are you kidding? He killed my partner!" the creature remarked. Noel paused at that, "Your partner?"

"Adrien Agreste...Chat Noir! Any of this ringing a bell," it stated. Noel closed the window and looked at it carefully for any sign of deception. All he was able to determine was the rat looked more like a mouse. Maybe even a cat, "What did you say your name was?"

"Plagg, kwami of destruction, Chat Noir's partner, blah-de-blah-de-blah! Look, I can help you get your brother out of jail if you help me take down Hawkmoth," Plagg said matter of factly. Finally, a way to save his brother. Noel nodded in agreement, "Deal, what do I have to do?"

"Whoa! First things first kid, there's a couple of rules," Plagg said, "I forgot to tell them to Adrien last time and he ran right into trouble so we need to go over them first."

"Fine, but make it quick. I'm not letting Nino sit in jail any longer!" Noel answered.

* * *

Alya sank into her chair in anger because of what was happening. Her post on her blog saying to forgive her fiance proved more divisive than she realized it would be. And how could people forgive anyway? Nino killed Paris's heroes! Their best friends! Marinette and Adrien.

It had all been too much. She wasn't even allowed to see him right now because he was in protective custody with the police. She just felt so...alone. The frustration and the anger and the grief all came out as her sweeping everything off her desk. Everything except her phone which she couldn't bring herself to throw.

As she sank further into her chair, she failed to notice a small butterfly flying into her room and landing on her phone.

"Sullen.

I am Hawkmoth.

The world blames the man you love for the death of your heroes.

The grief you feel is immeasurable.

Now you will share your grief with the world!

In return, all I ask is the Miracle Box in the Dupain-Cheng bakery."

Alya stood up from her chair, "As you wish, Hawkmoth."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with the help of and in honor of the people of the [MLB Fanworks Discord](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks)


	3. Princess Bug and Kuro Chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Manon and Noel try out their new powers. But they don't quite get along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with the help of and in honor of the people of the [MLB Fanworks Discord](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks)

Manon hurried down the street with Tikki in her jacket pocket past the many people still in quiet mourning. But this shared sadness was little comfort to Tikki who could only whimper, "I really miss her."

Manon said quietly, “I miss her too. Everyone misses her. Misses them.”

BOOM!

Manon stopped in her tracks as she felt the shockwave of the blast shake the ground beneath her. Some people were knocked down by the blast while others were merely startled and looked in the direction of the explosion. Then they heard an evil laugh as an akuma soared over the air. It shouldn’t have been surprising that anyone had been akumatized. Rather, it was surprising that any one person’s negative emotions could outweigh the emotions of those around them. 

Manon only barely managed to catch a glimpse of her as she soared past. Her mask ran down her face like mascara running from tears and blending into a multicolored hoodie of purple, red, yellow and blue. Like a rainbow threw up on a dress after it fell into a hoodie. What stood out most was the number across the back of her clothes - a series of numbers that looked like they were meant to be identification.

The panic was immediate. People ran away in fear from the direction the woman went. The direction of…

“THE BAKERY!” Manon cried out.

“If everyone knows Marinette was Ladybug, then that means Hawk Moth knows too,” Tikki said, fear finally setting in for her, “And that akuma will be after the Miracle Box! He can’t get his hands on the miraculouses! No matter what.”

“We have to hurry!” Manon gasped as she started running.

* * *

“And I think that’s all of it. Did you get all that?” Plagg asked as he finished telling his tale.

Noel just threw up his hands in frustration, “No! You said it all too fast! Look, can we just go save my brother now?”

Plagg crossed his arms and tut-tutted in mocking disappointment, “You gotta work with me here, kid! You can’t just go out into danger and get yourself killed like my last user did!”

BOOM!

Noel tumbled backwards and Plagg floated over to the window to see the source of the noise for himself. The little rat thing asked, “What was that?”

Noel scrambled back up to his feet and ran to the window to see for himself. 

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” a female villain laughed as she soared over the city. 

The sight could only mean one thing. And Noel knew this was his chance. He looked to Plagg and declared, “I’m pretty sure that means we can because that’s an akuma. How do I transform?”

“Hang on!”

“No, I’m done hanging on! I need to save my brother and there’s an akuma out there! How do I transform?” Noel repeated. 

Plagg sighed, “Geez, never thought I’d be the responsible one. Here, put this on.” 

He retrieved a silver ring from out of nowhere and slid it onto Noel’s finger, “Okay, now say: ‘Plagg! Claws Out!’”

“Got it. PLAGG! CLAWS OUT!”

Plagg was sucked into the ring and Noel felt a surge of energy run through his body. Everything he was wearing: his hoodie, his jeans, his belt turned jet black. He ran his hands across his chest like he was fastening another belt and saw one appear - then he lifted his hoodie over his head and felt two flaps appear there. Then something heavy sat on his back, and he felt a sword when he went to reach for it. Drawing it revealed a katana, “Whoa! Cool! Okay Plagg, what do I do?”

Nothing. He looked around the room and remembered, “Oh, right...well...sorry, Nino. First things first, that akuma. Then Nino!”

He opened up his window and climbed out. If this was anything like what he’d seen and what he could remember Plagg told him - he should be able to clear the leap to the next building without a problem. He took one step and kicked himself away from the window, suddenly flying through the air until he landed on the roof opposite his apartment complex. His heart raced and a big grin appeared on his face. That was amazing. He was definitely going to enjoy this.

* * *

Manon and Tikki reached the Dupain-Cheng bakery to see it in ruins. Both of Marinette’s parents were outside, holding each other as they stared up in horror at a large gaping hole in the side of their home that had once been Marinette’s room. Papers, furniture, clothes, and other assorted items came flying out onto the street below as if the room was being turned over.

The police were already there, trying to contain the scene until the villainess leapt from the room and onto the street. Tucked under her arm was a red sphere marked by black spots. Tikki gasped, “The Miracle Box! She has the other kwamis!”

There wasn’t any way to avoid it now. Manon looked down at the kwami and asked, “Tikki, how do I use the miraculous?”

Tikki looked up at her with big wide eyes and frowned, “Manon! It’s dangerous!”

“More dangerous than if Hawk Moth gets the miraculouses?” Manon asked. The police were moving in with their riot shields to detain the villainess, and were swiftly kicked away. 

“Don’t touch me! None of you touch me!”

Officers went flying through the air - crashing into cars and the sides of buildings. A few others aimed their guns at the woman, “Freeze! We have you surrounded!”

“Like you surrounded Nino!?” the woman snarled, “NO! YOU FREEZE! YOU’RE ALL UNDER ARREST! AHAHAHAHA!”

She waved her hand in front of her and produced large black bubbles that rushed through the air and entrapped anything they touched - street lights, trees, vehicles, and people. Then the bubbles started flying into the air as she cackled, “YOU ALL LOCKED UP NINO! SO NOW I’LL LOCK YOU ALL UP! LET’S SEE HOW YOU LIKE BEING IMPRISONED!”

“Okay, now I really need to use the miraculous Tikki,” Manon whispered, running into a nearby alley to get out of harm’s way. She wasn’t going to stand a chance untransformed the way she was now.

The little bug frowned, “I...you can’t. You shouldn’t! It’s just too dangerous Manon!”

“But if you don’t, who knows what Hawk Moth will do!” Manon pleaded again. 

She could see the hesitation in Tikki’s eyes and it wasn’t hard to understand why. She’d just lost one partner. There was no way she would be okay with losing another one. Still, Manon had to convince the little kwami, “Please, Tikki! Before anyone gets seriously hurt!”

“STOP RIGHT THERE!”

Manon and Tikki looked up to see a boy wearing a black hoodie with cat ears standing atop a nearby roof. At first, it looked like he had a tail growing from his back, until they realized it was the loose end of the sword strap he was wearing. The boy leapt down to the street in front of them, stumbling as he landed but catching himself before he toppled over. He was actually kinda cool when he did it, “Ha! Nailed it! So, what’s your deal?”

“Chat Noir?” the woman paused, her anger seeming to cool, “You’re supposed to be dead!”

“I don’t think I like that name. Sounds kinda...I dunno, kiddy?” the boy remarked, putting a hand to his chin and giving it some thought, “Call me...y’know, I didn’t actually think about names before I came out here. Forget that. So, what’s up? What’s your story? Akuma, I get. But who are you?”

“I AM SULLEN!”

“Was...was that a grown up joke? Because I don’t get it,” the new cat themed hero stated. She ignored him, “I want my fiance out of prison! I can free him with these powers, but first I need to bring these to Hawk Moth. Stay out of my way, or you’ll end up like the last Chat Noir!”

“Ooh, that looks very important,” the boy answered leaning in to inspect the red ball, “But if Hawk Moth wants it, I don’t think I can let you go. So...this is the part where we fight, right?”

“I call it giving a brat a spanking!” the woman said, charging at the new cat hero with the ball tucked under her arm. She threw a few punches that the cat boy clumsily dodged but eventually she got one hit in and sent him flying back. He managed to catch himself before he fell to the ground, backflipping through the air so that he landed on his feet, “Whoa! Cool! I didn’t know I could do back flips in mid air! Oh, that’s so cool. Okay, my turn right?”

“I tried to reason with people, to make them understand that Nino was innocent. When they wouldn’t listen, it made me angry,” she hissed, making her way to one of the unconscious police officers, “Now everyone else will know my anger, too! Know my pain!”

“Wait! NINO’S YOUR FIANCEE?” the boy gasped.

“Tikki, you know what that means, right?” Manon whispered to the little bug. The ladybug kwami nodded, “Yeah...the akuma is Alya!”

Sullen walked towards a nearby officer, tapped his head and the officer rose up from the ground, turning on the new Chat Noir angrily. The new Chat Noir pointed at the officer, “Hey! No fair! I don’t get a teammate!”

“No fair? What wasn’t fair was when NINO GOT LOCKED UP!” she snarled, running from police officer to police officer and tapping them until she had assembled a small army of angry police officers. The new Chat Noir backed away from the encroaching crowd, “Okay, this is bad. No worries. I got this. So...who’s first?”

Manon looked down at Tikki, “Okay, now we need to help!”

Tikki just groaned, “That stupid cat. He always rushes things. Okay, you can help. Do you know-”

“I’m a huge Ladybug fan! I think I know most of her powers by this point,” Manon said. Tikki nodded and flew up to her face with the earrings, “Okay, put these on. The words to transform are ‘Tikki! Spots On!’. And remember, you only get one use of your Lucky Charm so make it count!”

“Okay,” Manon said excitedly, fastening the earrings on trying her hardest not to contain her excitement. She’d imagined doing this for so long, but never thought she’d get the chance for herself. She took a moment to reflect on the fact that she only had the opportunity because Marinette was gone, “Tikki, Spots On!”

* * *

Noel did his best to fight off as many of the incredibly violent police officers charging at him. This didn’t make sense: two powers? Putting people in bubbles and making others incredibly violent? What exactly was her power? Or did she have multiple? Still, he had to keep these officers back. He drew his weapon from its holster and paused when he remembered it was a katana. Katanas may have been good for cutting up bad guys, but he wasn’t about to go stabbing some police officers who were just doing their jobs.

He wasn’t a monster - unlike this akuma lady over there. He just had to knock them unconscious! Easy! He put the sword back in its holster and ran towards the first police officer, leaping into the air to deal a swift punch to his face - and was promptly grabbed out of the air by two other possessed police officers. 

Then they dogpiled on him to keep him pinned to the ground, using their combined weight to counter his superstrength. Maybe using his katana wouldn’t have been a bad idea? No, not without the ladybug miraculous to fix things. Without it...people would die. And that was the last thing Nino would want. The last thing Alya would want. More death on their conscience.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”

He looked over to see a girl with brown hair wearing black spandex under red battle armor crash into the street beside them. The strangest part of her attire was the shell on her back that opened up to reveal a pair of wings. This weird pig-tail wearing girl slammed her fist on the pavement as she pushed herself up, “Whoa, that was so cool! Wait, since when could Ladybug fly? Was that always a power? SO COOL!”

Was...was that the new Ladybug? Was she supposed to be his partner?

“Oh, please no,” Noel mumbled to himself. The girl took notice of all the police piled on top of him and decided to finally do something about it, “GET OFF OF HIM!”

She took a running start towards them and produced her yo-yo from her belt on her waist. She spun it over her head and threw it with all her might at the police. In fact, she threw it so hard that the string slipped off her finger and wrapped up the police officer it hit. He fell over and she apologized, “Oops! Sorry! Are you okay?”

“Don’t apologize to the possessed officer! Just help me out of here!” Noel yelled. The girl gasped, “Oh right! I gotta help my partner! Don’t worry! I’m coming!”

She took a running start and leapt into the air, looking ready to dive kick the nearest possessed police officer - and was promptly carried away by her wings fluttering on their own, “ACK! WHOA! HELP!”

“If she’s my partner, then we’re freaking doomed,” Noel thought aloud. 

* * *

Gabriel couldn’t believe what he was looking at. The heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir! They were there! He felt a small glimmer of hope, if only for a second as his mind thought of all the ways he could save his family once he had their miraculouses!

But first things first, he needed to secure the Miracle Box. He used the powers of the butterfly akuma to communicate with the mind of his akuma, “The ladybug and black cat miraculouses are out in the open again. Bring them to me! Together, we can defeat them once and for all!”

* * *

“It will be done, Hawk Moth,” Sullen said, turning on her heels and fleeing. 

Dangling upside down in the air by her wings, Manon called out to the new Chat Noir, “She’s getting away! Stop her!”

“YOU STOP HER! I’M A LITTLE BUSY!” the new Chat Noir shouted back at her. She forgot that he was currently under a dogpile of police and nodded, “Right! Right! Um...hang on! I’m coming!”

She tried to take control of her wings but could barely manage to fly upright. However, she was eventually able to right herself through a combination of swinging her legs and flailing her arms. It was a moment of short-lived triumph however as her wings suddenly stopped working and she found herself in free fall - straight down onto the pile of police below.

The force of the impact sent them flying off her partner who scrambled to his feet and ran to her side, “About time!”

“Sorry,” she apologized, scratching the back of her head and noticing her yo-yo rolling to her side. She picked it up and refastened onto her belt, “Good, got that back. Come on! Let’s get the akuma!”

“I’ll follow you,” the new Chat Noir nodded, adjusting his attire for a moment. 

“You got it, Chat Noir!” She smiled and started running off in the direction of the akuma. He groaned, “Don’t call me that.”

“Okay, then what do you want to call yourself?” she asked.

“Haven’t really thought about it,” he said, running alongside her with a hand on his katana’s sheath. 

Now that she got a good look at him, she realized his aesthetic was completely different from Chat Noir. Instead of a skin tight leather costume, his attire was a loose black hoodie with a cat face and bright green pants and sneakers. He looked less like he was a superhero and more like he was getting ready to go to a rave. But with the katana and the greaves he had on, it was also like he was a ninja. Like one of those characters in the manga she’d always read, “How about Kuro Chat?”

He blinked at her in confusion, “What?”

“It’s Japanese. Y’know?” she explained.

“Why?” he asked in disbelief. She gestured at him, “Well, you’ve got that whole ninja thing going on. And Kuro is japanese for black. Black Cat. Kuro Chat! See?”

He continued to stare, “That’s stupid.”

Well this partnership was going well. Then again, she had no idea who he even was. The last Chat Noir was known to be in love with Ladybug. For all she knew, whoever got his Miraculous was a massive jerk underneath the mask. No, she shouldn’t think that. They were partners now. They would need to get along if they were going to work together to stop Hawk Moth, “Okay...maybe you try naming me?”

“Princess Bug,” he answered. That was quick. Why Princess? Was...was this flirting? Her brain lurched at the idea of some guy flirting with her - maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. She was just glad her costume was red so that no one could see how red she was, “Why is that?”

“Because you’ve got this whole fairy  _ princess _ vibe going on and it’s  _ bug- _ ging the crap out of me,” he answered quickly. So much for flirting. 

“COME BACK HERE!”

“GET THEM!”

“TAKE THEM DOWN!”

“And here comes police brutality,” Kuro Chat said, looking back at the angry police officers charging after them. Manon looked back at them and it clicked. Was that a pun? The old Chat Noir always had a pun, so maybe that’s what it was? But it was awful, “Please tell me you’ve got something better than that.”

“I’ve got a sword,” he replied.

“NOT WHAT I MEANT! I meant the joke. Not...killing people. Geez!” she snapped at him. This was going to be a very annoying day for both of them.

…

Hawk Moth stood atop the Eiffel Tower, grinning from ear to ear with anticipation. The miraculous were going to be his. He just had to wait for his akuma to arrive and bring the Miracle Box. Then he would have the ladybug and black cat miraculouses as well. Then his wish was just a few words away - Emilie and Adrien would be returned to him. 

His family would be whole.

* * *

“What’s the point of having a sword if I can’t stab bad guys?” Noel argued back at Princess Bug. She pointed back at them, “They’re not bad guys! They’re police! You can’t just attack them!”

As annoying as it was, she was right. They had to come up with a different plan - they needed to catch up to Sullen and fast, “Do you have any better ideas?”

“I have wings! I can fly us out of here!” she replied, gesturing at her back. Was she kidding? He threw his hands up in frustration, “You were flying upside down a minute ago!”

“Just trust me!” she said, grabbing a hold of his hands before he could even begin to protest. She suddenly leapt up and took to the sky, dragging him with her. To say it was a bumpy flight was an understatement, she could barely keep her flight pattern straight. She just zipped around like a fly swarming around garbage. His stomach turned as she flew around until he complained, “Will you stop and hold it steady for one minute!?”

“I’m trying! I’m trying!” she panicked, trying her best to keep herself upright in the air. Noel held on for dear life until her flight path put them on a collision course with the roof of a nearby building, “AAAAAAHHHH!”

They slammed into it and tumbled into a roll, coming to a stop just before they rolled over the edge. When Noel got his bearings back, he realized he was flat on his back, and she was on top of him. She didn’t even realize as she was busy massaging the back of her head, her eyes shut tight. But when they popped open and she realized what position they were in, she turned as red as her armor and leapt off him, “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he mumbled, needing another second to steady himself. Once his head ceased spinning from their horrible flight, he turned towards the city and started scanning, “Where’d she go? I don’t see her!”

“The Eiffel Tower,” Princess Bug pointed to the distance, “We can probably get a good view from up there.”

Noel looked towards the Eiffel Tower and nodded in agreement, “Yeah, there’s no way we can miss the akuma from up there. Let’s go. WITHOUT the flying this time.”

“At least we got away from the angry police, right?” she replied. Noel sighed and took a few steps back from the edge, “Yeah, but I’d like to get there in one piece. See ya there!”

“HEY!” she scowled but he’d already taken a running start and leapt off the rooftop towards the next one. 

* * *

Manon scowled in disappointment. Her partnership with Kuro Chat had gotten off to a rocky start. She had hoped that they would at least get along. Instead, he seemed to want nothing to do with her. No, she had to focus on the mission. They had to save the Miracle Box and stop Alya. She took a few steps back from the edge to copy him. It wasn’t that far...she could do it. And if she didn’t, at least she had wings.

...That she hadn’t quite mastered yet.

She closed her eyes, “I got this. I got this.”

Then she ran as fast as she could and took a running start before leaping as high as she could. The fear immediately gave way to excitement. Now that she wasn’t flying through the sky with no control over her direction, she was able to actually look at her surroundings. And seeing Paris from this height was something different. It was beautiful. She could get used to seeing the city in a way no one else could. She let out a cry of excitement and continued after Kuro Chat towards the Eiffel Tower.

They got to the tower in a manner of minutes. And just in time too, because they came across a crowd of people running away in terror. At the base of the Eiffel Tower was Sullen holding the Miracle Box. And before her was Hawk Moth with a hand outstretched.

“Kuro! We have to stop them!” she stated, “It doesn’t look like they’re aware of us yet. Which means we can get the jump on them!”

“Don’t call me that,” he said again, putting a hand to his sword, “And I’m on it!”

He leapt off the rooftop and landed in a few feet away to get their attention, “Not so fast!”

Manon rolled her eyes and made sure to land beside him, “Will you stop announcing yourself like that? What kind of a ninja goes around announcing himself?”

“Really? That’s what you're focusing on right?” he countered. 

Didn’t he realize? She stamped her foot, “We could’ve had the jump on them! If we had the advantage of surprise, we could’ve taken them both easy! Now they know we’re here!”

“YAA!” 

Manon looked away from Kuro Chat to see Sullen coming at them. She and Kuro moved out of the way just as Sullen struck the ground she’d been standing on. Then she turned to attack them, raising up her legs to kick at them before waving her hand to summon more of her bubbles. 

“Get back!” Kuro said, drawing his katana and popping the bubbles as he swung his sword around. Manon wasn’t sure he knew what he was doing and called out, “Kuro! Stop!”

“I’ve got this!” he answered, popping every bubble he sliced in half. He wasn’t listening to her. She would have to force him to listen and ran towards him, pulling him back by the nape of his hoodie, “STOP! IF YOU’RE NOT CAREFUL, THE BUBBLES WILL-!”

They were trapped. A bubble got them during that one second neither of them were looking and now they were trapped in a bubble. It was cramped in there too, with the both of them barely able to fit inside while it lifted them into the air. She could see the annoyed look on Kuro’s face and apologized, “Sorry.”

“I had it under control!” he grumbled, trying to maneuver his sword to break the bubble and narrowly avoiding her with the edge. 

“Will you stop? You almost cut me! See, this is the problem! You acted without thinking again! We have to be careful here! We’re out of our league! Ladybug and Chat Noir had years on us and they still lost! Hawk Moth isn’t going to pull any punches just because we’re new at this! Don’t you get that?” Manon pointed out to him, annoyed at Kuro for constantly getting upset at her for trying to help while he was constantly getting himself in harm’s way.

“Indeed, you are,” Hawk Moth announced.

“And then there’s this asshole!” Kuro grumbled, his eyes darting towards Hawk Moth. 

Manon slapped him, “Language! We’re super heroes! We shouldn’t swear.”

“I’m still calling him an asshole,” Kuro said again, crossing his arms as they floated in the air against their will. Hawk Moth came closer with a great big smile on his face while Sullen handed him the Miracle Box. He took it under his arms and announced, “So...you two are the new Ladybug and Chat Noir. You realize you don’t stand a chance against the likes of me. The real Ladybug and Chat Noir didn’t.”

“We’re not them,” Kuro said, his hand curling up into a fist. Hawk Moth chuckled, “That much is clear. So please, save us all the embarrassment and just give me your miraculouses.”

“You’ll have to take them from us,” Manon countered. Hawk Moth’s smile widened and he took his first step towards them. She needed to think of something quick. What would Marinette do in this situation? She wasn’t sure and her mind raced to come up with an answer: Kuro still hadn’t used his power and had his sword. She still had her power too. But they only had so much time after they used their powers to stop Hawk Moth and break Alya out of the akuma’s control. How?

Of course!

“Hey, I have an idea,” Manon said quietly, positioning herself to whisper into Kuro’s ear.

* * *

Hawk Moth was about to put his hand through the bubble and claim his prize when he heard Kuro Chat cry out, “CATACLYSM!”

He slammed the dark energy into the bubble’s surface and it broke apart instantly. Hawk Moth realized what was going on one second too late as he narrowly avoided getting a sword plunged into his face. He’d been overconfident, the same mistake he’d made against Adrien. But not this time.

He needed to put as much distance between himself and them as possible, which was made harder when the new Chat Noir was chasing him so relentlessly. Still, the new hero was an amateur and Gabriel only needed to remind the boy who was the better.

He used his cane to deflect the sword attacks, smiling wide with every missed stab and swing until one lucky strike knocked the Miracle Box out of his hands. It slid a good distance away, reminding Hawk Moth that he couldn’t afford to be careless. Not now.

“Sullen!” he called for his akuma, who leapt between him and Kuro Chat. The two began trading blows while he retreated towards the Miracle Box, making sure to hold it more securely with both hands. But with both hands holding the box, he couldn’t help fight against the new Chat Noir and Ladybug. 

No...they could wait. There would be time. With this many miraculouses, he would be unstoppable. He waited for his opportunity and hurried away.

* * *

Manon watched Sullen carefully, looking for the akumatized object while Kuro kept her busy with his sword. She had to be quick though - if he wasn’t careful, his transformation would run out. She had to make it quick. But what?

Her hands maybe? She’d kept them closed the entire time but she’d been swinging her fists around too. It was worth a shot and Manon used her yo-yo to try and tie up the akuma only for Sullen to strike it away, “That won’t work on me! I was Ladybug and Chat Noir’s biggest fan! I know every move they had!”

“Well, we’re not them!” Kuro said, swinging his sword at her again. His ring was already starting to beep though. They were out of time and Manon had to hurry. And she was excited because she always imagined doing exactly this, “LUCKY CHARM!”

A bright light flashed from her yo-yo and something fell into her hands: a hand mirror. A hand mirror? What was she supposed to do with a mirror? Okay, maybe she’d gotten too excited. What to do...what to do? Panicking, she did what came natural and threw it as hard as she could. Both Kuro Chat and Sullen saw it coming, ducking under the mirror as it flew over their heads.

“AH!” 

Sullen took a step back and opened her hands to cover her eyes. As the mirror flew past the akuma, it seemed a glimmer of sunlight bounced off its surface and reflected straight into her eyes. It really was a lucky charm. Or rather, a dumb luck charm. Not that Manon was going to complain. And a phone fell out of Sullen’s closed hand. Manon pointed at it, “KURO!”

“STOP CALLING ME THAT!” he said again, taking his sword and stabbing the phone before Sullen had a chance to recover. With the object broken, a purple butterfly flew out of the phone and Sullen transformed back into Alya Cesaire. Kuro blinked, “Huh, it really was Alya.”

Manon wanted to celebrate, but she still had one other part to do. And she was really excited to try it. She opened up her yo-yo and shouted, “Time to de-evilize!”

She swung her yo-yo to capture the akuma before it could get away and missed. This was a lot harder than it looked. She rolled up the yo-yo and tried again to catch it. And again. And again.

“Sometime today, Princess Bug,” Kuro tapped his foot impatiently.

Manon swung her yo-yo again, “Working on it, Kuro!”

“Stop calling me that,” Kuro said again, just as she finally caught the butterfly. Finally! Now for the fun part. She pulled the yo-yo back before releasing it, “Bye bye little butterfly! MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!”

She threw the lucky charm into the air and it burst into light again, flying across all of Paris and undoing all the damage that had been done. Everyone who’d been sent skyward by the bubbles was released and the angry mob of police who were chasing after them were now stopped.

“Not bad, Princess Bug,” Kuro finally said with something resembling approval. Manon put a hand to her hips and proudly said, “Nothing a little teamwork couldn’t fix, right Kuro Chat?”

“Stop it,” Kuro said again.

“Ladybug? Chat Noir?” Alya gasped in surprise as she seemed to finally come to her senses. Unfortunately, Kuro’s ring was now beeping louder than ever and Manon warned, “You better get out of here before you detransform.”

“Crap, I still haven’t...never mind,” he sulked.

“I’ll see you next time?” she asked hopefully as he put his sword away. He shook his head, “Hopefully not.”

Then he leapt away, leaving Manon feeling just a little sad. She was hoping their partnership would be a little friendlier than what it was. Instead, it seemed he wanted nothing to do with this. Then her earrings started to beep, “Uh oh, time to go.”

She was about to leave when Alya grabbed a hold of her hand, “Marinette, wait!”

Manon stopped, looking back at Alya in surprise. The surprise on Alya’s face was just as obvious. Of course, she was just coming out of it. She probably didn’t even register that she wasn’t Marinette until just now. It was kind of flattering to be mistaken for her. But the hurt on Alya’s face brought her back down from any kind of joy she could take this. She wasn’t Marinette, after all. Then the beeping got louder and she knew she had to go, “Sorry, wish I could stay but I really have to go. Take care of yourself, okay? We’ll be back again if you need us.”

Alya nodded and let go, her shocked expression burned into Manon’s mind forever.

* * *

Alya stood up, massaging her head and trying to nurse the headache she had. What just happened? Where was she? And why was her phone on the ground. She picked it up, unaware of the medical team rushing to her side, “Are you alright?”

Alya looked up to see two EMTs and a police officer around her. She nodded, still trying to digest what she’d just seen. Was that Ladybug and Chat Noir? No, of course not. They were gone. These...these were different people. What did they say their names were? Princess Bug and Kuro Chat? That was going to take some getting used to. On the other hand, Alya felt like a weight had lifted off her. She felt like...everything would be alright.


	4. Back To School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Manon and Noel go back to school for the first time since Marinette and Adrien died. But things have changed. How is the world reacting to the news of two new superheroes running around?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written with the help of and in honor of the people of the [MLB Fanworks Discord](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks)

Manon awoke bright and early the next day, still riding the high of saving Paris the day before. She’d barely slept, though, as she kept checking the internet every few minutes just to see all the latest buzz. It seemed her little excursion yesterday was all anyone was talking about. Two new heroes running around Paris; a new Ladybug and Chat Noir. Alya had even updated her blog about her brief akuma attack and what she’d heard after being saved, they referred to each other as Princess Bug and Kuro Chat. And the comments were littered with people excited about the prospect of the return of heroes.

Of course not all the talk was enthusiastic. There were also the negative comments: people calling them copycats who preferred the original heroes, people who thought the heroes were the problem and all the super powered folks should go away, people upset that the akuma attacks were back, and people who thought their names were stupid.

Those comments weren’t going to ruin her mood though. Especially since the school was about to reopen for the first time in weeks since Ladybug and Chat Noir...she pushed that out of her mind. There was still a lot of dressing up to do. 

As she finished going through her morning routine for school, she noticed Tikki flying around her room looking at the pictures and drawings of superheroes she had lining the wall. Then she stopped at the pictures of Ladybug and lingered on it. Manon went up to the little kwami, extending her hand out to her but stopping just short. It seemed like the kwami didn’t want to be bothered. 

Still, she wanted the kwami to know things would be alright. Tikki finally looked away, saying, “You must really like superheroes, Manon.”

“Sure do. I like them all. I’ve got Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain Marvel,” Manon listed off quickly, “But my favorite is always Ladybug! I just wish I knew it had been Marinette this whole time. I mean, I never thought my babysitter would’ve been Ladybug

Tikki finally cracked a small smile, “You’re Ladybug, now.”

“Princess Bug!” she corrected, “That’s what Kuro called me yesterday when we fought that Akuma.”

Tikki cracked a small smile, “Yes, sorry. It’s just taking a little bit longer this time.”

A bit longer this time? Then Manon understood. Of course, how did she not realize it before? Alya always talked about it on her blog but she always thought of it as just another crazy conspiracy theory. But now that she had to think about it, she realized it made perfect sense. She was Ladybug now, but Marinette was Ladybug before her. And someone must’ve been Ladybug before Marinette. She was not the first Ladybug. And having all these pictures of her up was probably reminding Tikki of that fact. She had to make it up to her, “I’m sorry, Tikki. I’ll take it down.”

“No, don’t,” Tikki flew up in front of her hand and guided it away, “I just...miss her.”

“I miss her too, Tikki,” Manon said quietly. 

Tikki looked at the picture another second longer before shaking her head, “You need to finish getting ready for school, Manon.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Manon nodded, continuing with what was her daily ritual of getting dressed for school and hurrying out to eat breakfast. Her mother was also busy getting ready for her day at work, busy in the kitchen making herself a lunch while also sliding a buttered croissant to her daughter. Manon grabbed a hold of the croissant and took a bite while checking more of the internet on her phone - fan sites and chat servers were still going crazy over yesterday. She even saw her mother’s official twitter account talking about an interview with Alya later tonight on her show. Speaking of which, her mother wasn’t making her phone conversation too subtle.

“I know, I know. It’s last minute, but just make sure she’s comfortable and ready to go. I know she’s still a little shaken but all of Paris is shaken. We’ve got two new heroes running around Paris and everyone wants to know what they can about them. Oh, and see if you can book the Dupain-Chengs and Gabriel Agreste. All of Paris definitely wants to know what they think about someone else picking up their childrens’ torch...I didn’t mean it like that. They’re not replacements. I just meant that someone else is taking up the mantle - picking up where they left off.”

Manon hid a happy giggle and sneakily grabbed a cookie from the cookie jar before running back into her room to give the cookie to Tikki, who was still lingering over all her comics and drawings, “Did you do these yourself?”

“Yeah! I started back when Marinette and Alya would babysit me! I really liked drawing my own stuff because I thought Ladybug and Chat Noir were so cool!” Manon said proudly. 

Tikki nodded, “It’s all really good.”

“You’re just saying that,” Manon said, finishing packing up her bag before running up to her full length mirror to check her appearance: purple dress over a white turtleneck. Her hair was a mess and she took a minute to brush it out before finally picking up her bag. As she went for the door, Tikki flew into her pocket to finish up her cookie.

“What are you doing, Tikki?” Manon asked.

“I have to be nearby in case Hawkmoth attacks again,” Tikki warned, “Now that he has the Miracle Box, he’s more dangerous than ever.”

“But what if anyone sees you?” Manon asked, worried about the idea of Hawkmoth attacking her the way he attacked the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. 

Tikki winked, “I hid in your room for weeks without you noticing, it’ll be fine. Now hurry before you’re late for school.”

Manon nodded and hurried to the door, “Bye mom! Love you!”

“Love you too dear! Be safe!” her mother called after her as she closed the door behind her and hurried to school. She passed the busy streets of a city that seemed more alive than it had been since the news broke of Ladybug and Chat Noir’s deaths. And seeing a smile on every person’s face just widened the smile on her own, although she couldn’t admit why.

College Francois DuPont - the school Marinette and Adrien attended when they were her age. She entertained the idea that maybe Kuro Chat was some kid in her school too, before pushing the idea out of her head. The odds were pretty low, especially with how big Paris was. Besides, it’s not like she wanted a romantic relationship with the guy. It was just nice to have someone to talk to. However, she wasn’t going to let school troubles ruin her mood. Not today. Today would be a good day.

* * *

Noel closed the door to his locker, still grumbling about yesterday but trying to at least present an air of calm. First, he’d wasted the entire transformation on fighting the akuma so he couldn’t break Nino out of jail. Then, the stupid rat kwami wouldn’t let him transform back because he kept belly aching about Camembert cheese. Which was made all the worse because he couldn’t find a single grocer who carried the stupid cheese. So he spent a good chunk of his allowance to get every other kind of cheese he could. Only to learn that the stupid rat refused to eat any of it, and remained quiet when Noel pushed him on it.

And now the rat thing followed him to school demanding to be fed, “Noooeeelll! I’m hungry! Give me Camembert!”

“I don’t have any,” Noel groaned, “And will you hide or something? What if someone sees you?”

Plagg cackled, “It’ll be fine! No one’s caught me yet. Except that one teacher. Actually, she had cheese last time we were here. And if she’s still holding on to it, that would make it ripe!”

“Oh god no. I’m going to smell of stinky rotten cheese now. Now I have to waste money on deodorant,” Noel massaged his nose.

Before he could say anything else, Plagg suddenly flew into his hoodie and disappeared. Which was just as well since two of his female classmates came into the locker room. Alya’s younger twin sisters: Ella and Etta Cesaire. The three of them had been friends ever since their older siblings had started dating. And if it weren’t for that, he’d learned how to tell them apart beyond just the obvious color coding of Etta wore teal and Ella wore pink. In fact, today they’d switched.

Etta ran up to him and excitedly cheered, “Hey Noel! How’d your trip to the police station go yesterday?”

Noel rolled his eyes, “Police still won’t let him out. They said they’re ‘protecting’ Nino, like he can’t protect himself!”

Ella frowned, “That sucks.”

Etta added, “Better than Alya. She’s been on her Ladyblog all night ever since she got akumatized yesterday. They want to interview her on the news!”

Noel re-shouldered his bag, trying not to mention the fact that he was the one who’d fought their sister, “Yeah, how’s your sister doing? That new hero looks like they knocked the wind out of her.”

“She’s taking it better than we thought she would’ve. It’s like she’s back to her old self,” Ella said excitedly, grabbing his hand, “Come on! We’re going to be late for class!”

“Whoa, hey!” Noel tried to protest but was dragged along by the twin girls over to their locker, only to bump into them when they suddenly stopped. And once he got his bearings, he understood why - the school’s superhero geek was making her way to class with a great big smile on her face.

Etta whispered, “Be careful she doesn’t drag you into her superhero talk.”

“Come on, don’t be like that. She’s just...eager,” Ella added quietly, her whisper turning into a squeak when Manon looked at them before heading into the classroom. Noel pulled his hands out of theirs, not really appreciating the way they’d always latch on to him and remarking, “Why do you two even care? She knows what she likes...leave her alone.”

“I dunno, it’s kinda weird that she obsesses over that stuff,” Etta explained. Noel rolled his eyes and tried not to laugh at the irony that their sister was the exact same way.

They made it into the classroom just as the bell rang and sat in their desks in the front row. He didn’t particularly care for that spot, but the teachers knew he had a habit of not paying attention to anything that bored him. So they kept him up front to keep an eye on him - it also kept him from talking to the Cesaire twins.

Their teacher, Madame Bustier, greeted them all with a great big smile, “Welcome back class! It’s good to see you all back after our little break. We have a lot of catching up to do so-”

Noel was already beginning to tune out of the lesson, trying his hardest to ignore the fact that the Cesaire twins were giggling loudly in the row behind him. Not to mention the rustling Plagg was doing in his hoodie, obviously squirming from hunger pains.

* * *

When they were dismissed for lunch, Manon hurried to the art room to both eat her food in peace and continue working on another superhero piece she’d been working on. A drawing of Ladybug and Chat Noir leaping over the city of Paris. It was a weird idea to think that she was in  _ their _ school, probably sitting in the desks  _ they _ used when they went to this school. That she might be in Marinette’s chair or in Adrien’s table.

“Hey Manon. Should you really be eating in the art room?” Tikki asked her curiously as she came out of her bag. Manon raised an eyebrow at the question, “The art teacher’s fine with it. Why?”

“No, I mean...don’t you want to go eat with your friends?” Tikki asked with the just smallest hint of concern in her voice. 

Manon nodded and smiled, “I don’t really have any.”

Silence. She glanced up at Tikki who was staring down at her with her mouth wide open, “You don’t?”

Manon shrugged it off, “I don’t really mind. It’s not like I have a lot to talk about with the others anyway. They all think I’m annoying because I won’t stop talking about superheroes. But it’s not like they want to talk to me about anything else anyway.”

Tikki floated in front of Manon between bites of her sandwich and said, “That’s probably one of the saddest things I’ve ever heard one of my holders say. You know what you need to do? Go out and make some friends!”

“Tried that. Didn’t work. Everyone expects me to just talk about comics anyway, so why bother?” Manon said before taking another bite out of her sandwich. 

The little kwami flew in front of her to get her attention and said, “You should still try, Manon.”

“No, thanks,” the girl replied again, finishing her sandwich and beginning to finish out the sketch. She thought Tikki would let it end there but the kwami persisted, “It’s really easy, Manon. Come on, look!”

The little kwami grabbed a hold of her hand and dragged her over to the window that overlooked the courtyard of the school. For being so small, the kwami seemed to have more strength than she let on. This left Manon to wonder why Tikki didn’t just go up and punch every akuma who showed up. In fact, why did she need to do anything at all? Not that she didn’t want to have super powers. It was just weird that Tikki was strong enough to pull her out of her chair and not go around punching akumas.

Tikki’s eyes darted around the courtyard until she pointed at three other students that Manon knew quite well: Noel Lahiffe, and the twins Ettaa and Ella Cesaire. Noel seemed to be trying his hardest to not ask the two girls to stop talking animatedly about whatever they were talking about. Manon grimaced at the idea of being their friend, “Them? Ew, no.”

“What’s wrong with them?” Tikki asked. Manon went back to her drawings as she said, “Noel’s a try-hard who thinks he’s cooler than he actually is. As for Etta and Ella? They seem alright, but they’re always all over Noel. It’s like, one of them needs to just ask him out already! I get there’s the whole friendship thing they’ve got but you can’t look at them and tell me they’re not interested.”

Tikki’s eyes widened and a small smile appeared, “Wait...why did you bring up dating? Are you...jealous?”

Manon didn’t even entertain the idea as a joke, “No.”

Tikki giggled at her, “You know you won’t ever meet anyone if you stay cooped up in here all day.”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Manon said, really wanting to concentrate on her drawing.

* * *

As Noel made his way out of the classroom for lunch, he heard Plagg whisper, “Ooh! I smell it! The sweet aroma of my love! I’m coming, Camembert!”

Before Noel could even ask what that was about, the little kwami zipped out of his pocket and out into the courtyard. Noel chased after him, “Plagg, wait!”

But it was too late. He was gone. And now he looked like he’d shouted for no reason at the entire courtyard. His entire class was looking at him like he was crazy and he could only smile and retreat awkwardly back into the classroom. At least he’d save himself the embarrassment of looking crazy if people could forget about it... until he came face to face with Etta with a great big smile on her face, “What was that about, Noel?”

“Oh, nothing in particular,” Noel stammered, thinking quickly to come up with a lie, “Just thinking about a song I was listening to. So what’s up?”

“You’re so weird sometimes,” she giggled, “Anyway, aren’t you going to join us for lunch?”

“I...uh... gotta go do something first. I’ll talk to you two later okay?” he stammered out before quickly making his exit. He really wanted to eat too but he had no other choice now that Plagg was somewhere loose in the school. Especially when the kwami would get up to who knows what kind of trouble just for cheese. He could imagine going through his monthly allowance in a day with how much that stupid rat ate.

Speaking of, he said he smelled that awful stuff but where was he smelling it? His first thought was the boys locker room which smelled perpetually of body odor and fragile male egos, but found it empty save for a few students getting out of their uniforms. Next was the school’s bathroom but there was no way to mistake the smell in there for stinky cheese. Which led him straight to the chemistry lab. As he was about to go in, the door burst open and he saw Plagg fly out towards the art room followed by Miss Mendeleiev, “I KNOW YOU’RE THERE, YOU FLYING RODENT! GET BACK HERE!”

“Uh, Miss Mendeleiev?” he stammered at the sight of the science teacher who looked even crazier than usual. She turned to face the boy, “Did you see it? DID YOU SEE IT!?”

“See what?” he lied badly. He saw Plagg fly into the art room but was trying his best to act confused, “You acting crazy? Yes. Yes I did.”

“Don’t get smart with me, young man. Where did it go? That creature is...important!” she said excitedly, hurrying down the walkway in the opposite direction of Plagg. He took a moment to watch her go into the next room, making sure she was out of sight before hurrying into the art room where he found Manon all by herself working on another superhero drawing. 

She raised an eyebrow at the sight of him and her tone wasn’t exactly happy to see him, “What are you doing here, Noel?”

“I lost something and I’m looking for it,” he answered matter of factly as he started to wander the room for any sign of the little kwami. If Plagg were smart, he’d wait until he was close to come back. Unfortunately for him, Manon didn’t seem interested in having him around. 

Her eyes narrowed as she turned in her seat to watch his every move, “What are you talking about? You never come to the art room. Ever! You’re probably up to something if I had to guess.”

“Yup, you figured it out,” Noel shrugged, “I’m here looking for a flying rat that ate Miss Mendeliev’s cheese before she catches it.”

Noel noted her eyes widening in surprise. Either she believed it and she was that weird, or she thought he was crazy. It didn’t matter to him which it was, as long as he was able to find Plagg. And the sooner he was sure he wasn’t in the room, the sooner he could get out of here. After all, no one could know he was the new Chat Noir. 

“Why do you dress like Chat Noir?” she suddenly asked. 

Uh oh. He looked down at his clothes and didn’t think anything about it really screamed Chat Noir. He stopped his search to ask, “What are you talking about?”

“Black hoodie with green highlights, not to mention the green shirt,” she pointed at him. That was just his usual clothes. He might have to change it if it made him too obvious. Then she snapped her fingers, “Oh, I get it. You’re a fan.”

Crap. Here comes the superhero talk. Then again, it did give him a convenient out, “Uh...yes. Yes, I am.”

She just stared at him, “Oh cool, neat. Why him though?”

“I dunno, he...just seemed cooler,” he lied. He had no particular interest in either hero up until this point and had no interest in this conversation either. However, he was stuck for the duration of his search for Plagg and listened to her gush.

“He always seemed like the more immature of the two heroes. I mean, he was always flirty and playful compared to Ladybug. Not to mention the fact that he’s always cracking jokes. It makes sense, though, since we know he was Adrien now. That was probably the closest he ever got to being a normal guy...especially with how cold his dad is. Guy barely leaves the house and he acts like he’s got a stick up his butt. The guy didn’t even show up to his funeral! But Ladybug, she always had a plan. She always had it together. And I get why. Marinette was doing so many things at the same time: fashion design student, class president, not to mention designing things for both Gabriel’s fashion line and Jagged Stone’s music in her spare time. She really was amazing. And-”

She paused, giving him a moment of silence to finally think.

Huh. He’d never really given either hero much thought when they were alive. It was actually surprising that she knew that much about either of them. Maybe she’d looked them up after they died? She was the superhero geek after all; she was naturally going to know the most about them. And her sudden silence must’ve been because she was now dealing with the fact that they were gone. They had been heroes to her since they first showed up years to go. Childhood icons gone in one horrible tragedy. 

Wait...now that he thought about it, he remembered Manon was sometimes over at his place when he was younger? Oh, crap. That was right. Marinette would babysit her. And when there was a schedule conflict, Marinette would ask Alya to keep an eye on Manon for her. Since Alya was dating his older brother that meant...crap...how did he forget that?

Manon would’ve been close to both heroes. He racked his brain to say something to cheer her up while he continued his search for Plagg. Then it struck him that he should be on a subject she likes, “It sucks that they’re gone. But at least we’ve got two new heroes, right?”

“Kuro Chat and Princess Bug!” she said excitedly, “It’s all over the internet.”

That stupid name again. It was going to haunt him forever, wasn’t it? 

“What do you think of them?” he asked, trying to keep her mind off Marinette and Adrien. She smiled, “Kuro comes off as a little cold, but he seems like he’s just trying to be cool from what people have said online. And Princess Bug...um...looks like she’s trying.”

Looks like? That girl was a mess. And if he was lucky, she wouldn’t do anything to get them killed, “I think she should quit while she’s ahead before she gets herself killed. Saw a video from yesterday. That girl nearly got them both killed!”

“I say we should give her a chance! No one’s great on the first try. Besides, Kuro was tripping over himself a lot too,” she said.

Finally, he came to a cabinet full of spray cans where he found Plagg eating behind the black cans. He grabbed the rat and stuffed him into a pocket before heading out, “Found what I’m looking for. I’ll get out of here.”

He hurried for the door, but stopped when she asked, “What were you doing with the spray cans?”

Noel paused when he realized how that must’ve looked and clicked his tongue, “Fine...you got me. I’ll put it back.”

He made a show of pretending to return the spray paint he didn’t steal before hurrying out the door. 

“Okay, bye,” she said quietly. He stopped just before he opened the door, looking back to see her go back to her drawing quietly. She seemed sad that she couldn’t talk about superheroes anymore. As much as he knew it wasn’t his problem, he also felt uncomfortable with her eating by herself like this. This was probably the closest she got to interacting with someone her age in forever. 

He was going to regret doing this, but did it anyway, “Want to join us for lunch?”

“No thanks,” she answered. Well, so much for that.

He breathed a sigh of relief and hurried out, “Okay, well you’re welcome to join us if you’d like.”

He left the invitation open, worried that she might actually take him up on it. Why did trying to be a nice guy have to be so much trouble?

* * *

Miss Mendeleiev was dragged into the principal’s office by an exasperated Monsieur Damocles, “Miss Mendeleiev, I thought you were over this nonsense already. What possessed you to start running around the school screaming about flying cats eating cheese?”

“Because it happened, Monsieur Damocles!” she countered, hoping for once that he would believe her, “These things appeared in my chemistry lab during the lunch break and ate my cheese! The kwamis...the...look, the last time I saw these creatures was when our former students were attending class here. Ladybug and Chat Noir. If they’re here again, that means one of our students could be running around as those two new superheroes!”

“Do you have evidence of this?” he asked. Evidence? He wanted evidence!? She wanted to snap at him because he knew they couldn’t be picked up on camera. But that would just make her sound crazier. She closed her eyes and massaged the bridge of her nose, “No.”

“Then please, drop this nonsense and return to your class,” he pleaded, “The last thing this school needs is a faculty member going crazy! And, if two of our students are the new superheroes, then we have a responsibility as their teachers to help keep their secret identities.”

“Secret identities? Sir, what about their lives!?” Miss Mendeleiev screeched.

He slammed his hand on the desk, “There will be no more discussion of this Miss Mendeleiev.”

“I...yes sir,” she closed her eyes and turned to leave, grumbling about his lax sense of responsibility. She maintained her composure all the way back to the chemistry lab, ignoring the looks from the students and other faculty members. She was not crazy. She was not insane! One of these students...was running around as the new Chat Noir. It was just a matter of catching the damnable creature and holding it. Then she could talk to that student. Plead with them to not throw their life away or put themselves in danger! But how? The question left her so deep in thought that she didn’t notice a black butterfly touching her lab coat as she entered the chemistry lab.

“ _ It’s good to see you again, Kwami Buster! _

_ All alone in your quest to save your precious students from endangering themselves! _

_I can give you the power to protect them!_

_The power to protect your precious students!_

_If you take away their kwamis and their Miraculouses, then no more precious life be wasted!_

_ All I ask in return are the ladybug and black cat miraculouses! _ ”

“It will be done, Hawkmoth,” she replied.


End file.
